Polish War Cemeteries in Iran
In 1942, Polish refugees, both civilians and soldiers, found
themselves in their thousands of Iranian land. As a result of
evacuation of the Polish Army commanded by Lieutenant General
Wladyslaw Anders from the territory of Soviet Union 120 thousands
poles reached Iran by sea and overland, this number including 77
thousands soldiers and more than 43 thousands civilians, among them
almost 20 thousands children, who had miraculous rescue from the
inferno of Soviet lagers.
For most of them, Iran was the first halting place on their martial
route or in further peregrination towards more countries, free of
the turmoil of war. Having experienced Soviet prisons and lagers,
extreme poverty, exile and disease, many of the Poles, however,
stayed forever in Iran. The memorials there speak volumes for
dramatic and tragic destiny of the Poles, exiled by shear force from
their own fatherland.
More than 2900 Polish refugees (soldiers and civilians) terminated
their wandering life in Iran. They were buried in two Polish
cemeteries and six polish plots in memorial parks of other nations,
principally in American sacred soil. 1937 Poles were buried in major
Polish cemetery in Tehran (Dulab), 56 in Jewish cemetery in Tehran,
too, and 10 in British Gholhak cemetery. Individual tombs of Polish
refugees, never evidenced so far, can be found in the memorials of
other nations such as French or Italian.
The remaining cemeteries are scattered throughout the itinerary of
evacuation: 639 Poles were buried in Anzali, 102 in Ahwaz, 20 in
Qazvin, and 5 in Khoram-Shahr.
None of the Poles buried in these cemeteries were soldiers killed in
battle. The reasons of their death were mainly epidemic diseases and
general exhaustion.
Polish Cemetery, Dulab, Tehran
Polish Tombs in British Military Cemetery, Gholhak, Tehran
Polish Plot in Jewish Cemetery, Tehran
Polish Plot in Armenian Cemetery, Anzali (former
"Pahlavi")
Polish Plot in Catholic-Chaldean Cemetery, Ahwaz
Polish Plot in Armenian Cemetery, Isfahan
Polish Plot in Catholic-Chaldean Cemetery, Qazvin
Polish Plot in Catholic-Chaldean Cemetery, Khoram-shahr
Polish Plot in Armenian Cemetery, Meshed
.
|
